New scholarship supports graduate students
The Greenidge Graduate Fellowship supports students in Mount Allison’s Master of Science program. The award was created by Dr. Dorothy Greenidge (’78), who has also supported research opportunities and student awards for undergraduate students.
Greenidge, a member of Mount Allison’s board of regents, has a strong educational background that includes a BSc from Mount Allison and a PhD from the University of Alberta. She is interested in making meaningful hands-on learning, mentorship, and research opportunities available to students.
“I really believe in what Mount Allison does and stands for,” says Greenidge. “It’s the whole package — the education, the professors, the class sizes, and the small community. The relationships you build and the opportunities you have because of the University’s unique setup will serve you well for the rest of your life and career.”
Mount Allison has graduate programs in Biology, and in Chemistry and Biochemistry. Students participate in a close-knit, active research community with robust laboratory and field experience.
The inaugural recipients of the Greenidge Graduate Fellowship are Clare Yang and Lana Boyd.
Clare Yang
Clare Yang is passionate about salamanders. After studying a local species during her undergraduate studies at Pacific University in Oregon, U.S., Yang travelled to the other side of the continent to join the Riley Integrative Ecology Lab at Mount Allison and study the eastern red-backed salamander, specifically researching its occurrence as an invasive species in Newfoundland and the genetic and behavioural differences, if any, between the salamanders found on the island and on the mainland.
It was quite the introduction to the region for someone who had never visited the Maritimes before — Yang spent months travelling Newfoundland in a pop-up trailer, locating the island’s salamanders and collecting genetic samples, and speaking with locals about their observations of the tiny amphibians. Yang then toured Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to gain a better understanding of those provinces’ salamander populations.
“The first recorded instances of eastern red-backed salamanders in Newfoundland are relatively recent,” says Yang. “I’m interested in species distribution, understanding how these salamander populations end up where they do, and what enables them to exist in such an area. I find salamanders particularly interesting because we tend to think of them as stationary, so when they are discovered in new places it has interesting implications for conservation and for how animals survive in different and new environments.”
Yang is glad her interest in salamanders brought her to Mount Allison and is thankful for the Greenidge Fellowship.
“Receiving the fellowship was huge,” says Yang. “As an international student, I don’t have the same ability to apply to NSERC and other funding sources for domestic students. I’m also thankful for this kind of fellowship that can bring attention to the research happening at Mount Allison and the work of our graduate students.”
Lana Boyd
Lana Boyd (’24) has long been interested in zoonotic diseases, parasitology research, and increasing our understanding of pathogens and viruses that can be transmitted from animal to human. As a fourth-year Mount Allison undergraduate student, Boyd completed an independent study with Dr. Vett Lloyd, in which she examined vectors (ticks, fleas) and bloodborne pathogens in rodents and their risk of infecting humans. The experience had such a strong positive impact on Boyd that she wanted to continue and grow her research in the area as a master’s student.
Boyd is particularly interested in studying animals that are more likely to come into contact with humans and their pets — for example, the house mouse that has appeared in your pantry or the family of squirrels that moved into your attic over the winter. As an undergraduate student, Boyd examined data from wild rodents tested several years ago, and now in her master’s program she is analyzing new samples and exploring whether there has been any increase in the amount and types of pathogens rodents are carrying.
“It’s an important area of study because, as our climate and temperatures warm, we are seeing ticks, for example, not dying off in the winter,” says Boyd. “We may also see new diseases being introduced through migratory birds or the rodents that ticks and fleas feed on.”
Boyd is appreciative of the financial help provided by the Greenidge Fellowship and for the opportunity to contribute research.
“I really love the lab community here at Mount Allison,” says Boyd. “We have a lot of good people and it’s great to hear about what they are working on, to compare methodologies and approaches to lab work, and to know there’s always someone around to bounce ideas off of and to help me out if I have a question.”
